Big second half lifts Vandals over ‘Toppers
Photos by Vandalia Vandalois/Sophia McNealy
Vandalia’s Kohnor Depew gets an escort from teammate Brody Roberts on his way to the end zone.
Hillsboro may have had a good feeling when it held a 3-0 lead over the Vandals at halftime. But the Vandals head coach may have been feeling a little better.
Those would be the only points the Hiltoppers would put on the scoreboard, while the Vandals racked up 27 in the final two quarters.
“They (Hillsboro) did a great job of just chipping way, but we did a great job of not breaking,” Jason Clay said.
“The defense was strong and just gave up the field goal,” he said. “I felt like that was a huge victory.
“I felt it was big for us come out of there at the half having run only six plays and not getting a first down.
“I’ve never really experienced anything quite like that,” Clay said.
“Obviously, we got the ball in the air a little bit and got some completions, got moving the ball,” he said.
After being down 3-0 at the half, the plan, Clay said, was “just trying to take what they were giving us.
“I felt like they (Hillsboro) were doing a good job up front, kind of sitting on a few things, so we’re going to have to come up with some answers offensively,” he said.
Vandalia’s Jacob Johnson (10) pulls down a Hillsboro runner, with Landon Christian (2) giving a hand.
“I feel like our defense has improved a lot. In a tough physical game, they held up and only gave up those three points in the first half, so now we go to work,” Clay said.
“The first few weeks, Andrew ran wild on people, and now people are game planning for him.
“We were able to get Landon (Christian) loose there at the end for some yards rushing-wise,” he said.
Photo by Vandalia Vandalois/Sophia McNealy
Vandalia’s Landon Christian fights off Hillsboro tacklers during Friday’s Homecoming game win.
“We have got to come back and find a way to run the football, too, especially in the second half.
“When you have a lead, you’ve got to be able to run the football,” Clay said.
“We just try to take what they give us,” he said. “We worked a lot this week on our passing game, and I thought we did a good job.”
Less than a minute into the second half, Kohnor Depew ran under a long bomb thrown by quarterback Andrew Kelly and the Vandals were on top from that point on.
Kelly and Depew connected again late in the third quarter, and the Vandals were up 12-3.
The Vandals wrapped up their scoring with Kelly passes to Landon Christian and Depew.
“I’m proud of our defense – they didn’t give up anything in the second half, and the offense did just enough,” Clay said.
